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Thursday, February 12, 2009

Scandinavians still hesitant about the euro

Peter Sutherland told the Today Programme a while back the Danes and the Swedes are "shaping up" to join the euro, claiming that there are "a majority in the public opinion wishing to join" in both countries.

Well, not quite. While the debate has picked up, a poll published yesterday showed that support for the euro actually is on the decrease in Denmark compared to a few months ago. In fact, public opinion is split right down the middle - 42% in favour, 42% against. In November last year, 51% were in favour.

Meanwhile in Sweden, there has never been a majority in favour of joining the euro, although the opposition has weakened somewhat lately. The latest poll from Statistics Sweden shows that 47% of Swedes would vote "no" in a referendum on joining the euro, 38% would vote "yes", and 15% "don't know".